Saving a lookout to look out for slide-stricken Darrington

The Green Mountain Lookout. Extreme greens want it removed. Most conservationists want it to stay at scenic perch.

The mudslide disaster along S.R. 530 has burst loose previously stalled legislation to save the 6,500-foot-high Green Mountain Lookout, on a popular trail near Darrington.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bill to keep the lookout from being torn down. It is tentatively scheduled for quick action Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

With the massive, 300-acre slide, Darrington is now cut off from what many locals describe as “down below.” The mill and recreation town must be reached by going east through the Skagit River Valley, and then south up the Sauk Valley.

Since Darrington depends a lot on summer recreation business, the state’s congressional delegation looked around for ways to help. Two obvious projects come to mind:

One is the long-delayed rebuilding and reopening of the road up the Suiattle River, which provides hikers, campers and horse parties with the main western access unto the 572,000-acre Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. S.R. 530, west of Darrington, gives a view of the state’s 10,541-foot “wilderness volcano.”

The other is Green Mountain, a trail accessed by a spur off the Suiattle River Road. The U.S. Forest Service recently rebuilt an historic, 1933-vintage lookout built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Surrounded by meadows of glacier lilies, it is one of the premier viewpoints of the Cascade Range.

But a radical Montana-based environmental group called Wilderness Watch sued to have the rebuilt lookout removed. It argued that the Forest Service improperly used helicopters to fly in supplies. With aid from Oregon-based lawyers, it won a decision from U.S. District Court Judge Jack Coughenour that the lookout had to go.

“This is a significant step forward toward saving a community treasure for residents of Snohomish County: The scenic lookout is a destination for locals and tourists, the historian and outdoor enthusiast,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who pushed the difficult task of getting unanimous consent, added: “The Green Mountain Lookout is more than a hiking destination. It’s part of the Pacific Northwest’s heritage.”

The Green Mountain legislation did pass the House, but as part of a package with controversial “goodies” designed to benefit those grazing livestock on federal lands. The House bill faced an uncertain future in the Senate.

In the last few days, faced with the plight of rural Washington residents, one key House member appears converted to the cause — U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, D-Wash., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Hastings is retiring from Congress this year.

The reopened Suiattle Road, and the four-mile Green Mountain hike, will likely be a boost to the IGA in Darrington, the soon-to-open Whiskey Ridge Brewery, and other summer and fall dependent businesses.

“As the community embarks on the long, difficult road to recovery, we must do everything we can to help, including supporting the region’s economy — in this case, its critically important recreation economy,” said DelBene